Heavy selling sends JSK shares lower

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta stock prices plunged across the board, with continuous heavy selling pressure throughout last week.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) Composite Index took a nose- dive from last Monday's opening, breaking the psychological level of 500 and reached the week's low of 482.01. Indosat which dominated trading during the week fell by almost four percent to a low of Rp 7,850 before closing the week higher at Rp 8,050.

The market's fall, however, was limited due to a lack of liquidity. Furthermore, there was a slowdown in panic selling, as bargain hunters took advantage of bluechip stocks, expected to rebound faster than the index. By the end of the week, the market had partially improved to close at 487.57 on Friday, down 22.27 points (4.37 percent) from the previous week's close of 509.84.

The overall sentiment was nervous following the fall in Wall Street and the severe beating on Asian stock markets. Analysts throughout the Asia-Pacific region said that major funds are expected to shift from equities to fixed income instruments or cash. Domestically, the situation could be worse as interest rate have yet to increase, while year-end inflation is higher than expected.

Average daily turnover on the regular board decreased to 10.52 million shares worth Rp 42.30 billion (US$19.30 million) from 12.14 million shares worth Rp 54.36 billion in the previous week. Last week's total turnover increased to 75.35 million shares valued at Rp 320.43 billion from 75.46 million shares valued at Rp 313.72 billion in the previous week.

Foreign players were seen redeeming their funds, shadowed by local investors. There was strong selling on all counters, despite third quarter earning results which were mostly in line with expectations. However, some investors recognized good buying opportunities and took advantage of liquid stocks such as Indosat, Indah Kiat, Barito Pacific Timber, Gadjah Tunggal, Gudang Garam, HM Sampoerna, Bank Danamon and BDNI.

Some of last week's best performers were Sari Husada (up Rp 500), Lippo Life (up Rp 400), Aqua Golden, BAT (up Rp 200 each), Ades Alfindo and Steady Safe (up Rp 100 each). The biggest losers were Sekar Laut (down Rp 2,150), Summarecon (down Rp 1,300), Unilever, Multi Bintang (down Rp 1,250 each) and Gudang Garam (down Rp 1,200). Losers outnumbered gainers by 92 to 18, while 69 remained unchanged.

-- Sigma Batara